Renault Clio RS 200 Turbo: 200hp, 240Nm, dual-clutch

Five-door hatch, turbocharged, dual-clutch gearbox. Sounds more Volkswagen than Renault Sport, but one’s got to move with the times, prioritise efficiency and appeal to a broader audience. Unveiled at Paris, the new Renault Clio RS 200 Turbo has all of the above. Bye-bye high-revving NA engine and stick shift.

The new hot Clio is powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine with 200 hp at 6,000 rpm and 240 Nm (up 25 Nm from Clio III Renaultsport) from just 1,750 to 5,600 rpm. This new 16-valve four-cylinder unit includes goodies like DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) cam followers developed from F1, direct injection and VVT.

This new engine uses two litres less fuel for every 100 km compared to the old 2.0 litre F4R engine. Performance data will be released during media test drives planned for early 2013.

The exhaust note has been the object of particular attention, RS says. Sound is also enhanced synthetically by R-Sound Effect. This application simulates the noise of one of a range of iconic engines through the car’s speakers, tuning it to the speed and acceleration of the car. “It’s a fun and realistic way of choosing the engine noise,” Renault adds.

More trickery comes in the form of a ‘sport’ button named R.S. Drive. Pressing this modifies the engine and gearbox mapping, ESC settings, steering feel and throttle response. There are three modes – Normal, Sport and Race.

While the old Clio RS didn’t have an auto option, this new one doesn’t have a manual option. The engine is available exclusively with the EDC (Efficient Double Clutch) dual clutch, six-speed transmission, described as docile in daily driving and particularly effective in sporty driving.

There are steering column-mounted gear shift paddles and a ‘race’ mode (out of three modes) where gear changes can be made in just 150 milliseconds.

Renault says that this new Clio RS is an “innovative response to the highly sophisticated expectations of the compact sports hatchback customer.” Some enthusiasts might have shed a tear by now already :)

As usual for RS, there are two chassis options – Sport for an optimum balance of sportiness and comfort in everyday motoring and Cup for technical and track day enthusiasts (their words, not ours). Pick the latter and you’ll get 15% more stiffness and a ride height lowered by 5 mm over Sport. In the braking department, the 200 Turbo gets big 320 mm-diameter discs at the front, up by 8 mm.

Looks wise, the hot Clio adds on an F1-style front blade, while its diffuser and spoiler generate 80% and 20% extra downforce respectively. Also exclusive to RS are the unique grille and spoiler, front and rear bumper, wide-set LED DRLs, sill extensions and 17-inch wheels, with 18s as option. Dual pipes round off the package.

If you’re wondering, this new Clio RS is a five-door hatchback with the rear door handles hidden Alfa 147-style. Full details of the standard non-RS fourth-gen Clio here.

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

Too bad it drops the manual box, but then again, yay, Renault discovered the double clutch. It does look brilliant (not as brilliant as both old Clio V6 though).

But am I the only one that sticking with 200 hp is a bit… meh? I mean the V6 had 250+ hp. Of course the Clio’s that came after that weren’t nearly as mental (sadly) and not nearly as pricey (thankfully), but at least a bit more than what was there before…? A turbocharged 2.0 would have been nice…

Whilst I think this car looks great, it’s not going to impress most existing Clio RS owners who have bought their cars for the raw visceral experience that a highly strung normally aspirated engine that needs to be worked via a manual gearbox provides. This one is more for the “digital” generation. It’s more like a Mini or a DS3. It may bring Renault new customers, but it’s going to lose them existing ones. The idea of a flappy-paddle gearbox and a “choice of synthetic engine sounds” (the old car sounded great for real) is just going to offend existing Clio RS owners.

Aww shucks..Renault Sport has decided to drop the stick shift gearbox and the highly strung 4 pot,while this is progress ahead in terms of market competetiveness and current global trend of powerplant downsizing,this new Clio should find many new homes and new owners who will discover the magic of the Renault Sport chassis engineers from Dieppe,France.It will appeal to a relatively broad based die hard fan base of Renault Sport vehicles,i am one of them.

While i was in States side for many years those days,i had under ownership 2 Renault Sport legends.One was a mint single French owner Renault Sport Clio Williams Edition,it was super rare even in the States where it was thrashed and pampered meticulously for maintainence for the 8 years i had it.It’s motor was tuned by myself to put out a heady 172bhp at the front wheels,it had a roll cage,proper seats,it’s stock sublime handling further enhanced,the sight of it tipping on 3 wheels on hard turn in 3 rd gear at close to 100mph is unforgettable.Never before did i have so much fun in a hot hatch.Even till this day,it’s razor sharp turn in and poise of relentless grip earns it a top 10 my greatest front drive hatches of all time.Brilliant ride.

The other was it’s predessor,the RS 172,this too was given a similar simple performance enhancing modifications,and was no less fun to give it the beans for on limit handling on the track,they were religously thrashed and fastidiously maintained,all work done by myself,that’s how you should drive a Renault Sport vehicle.That’s their main philosophy in building their cars.They don’t make them like they used to.The RS 172 put out just under 211bhp at the front wheels when i was done with it.I was really sad to see both of them go to new homes but commitments i had at that time forced me to make those 2 very reluctant sales.At one point i had 12 cars and 10 bikes in my garage.

I found a vintage Renault Alpine Gordini in a freakin barn in Texas,in 1997,it was in correct the shade of Gordini blue,it’s engine was in the rear,it had the correct twin carb,twin choked Solex SU carbs and the optional Weber’s still in it’s freakin box,unused!!.It was untouched from it’s last known race in Europe from 1974 where it was shipped back to the States in Decemeber 1974,from this point,this is where the Gordini sat in that barn until i found it in 1997.Sacrilage at it’s best i reckon.But the dude was asking too much for it,it was an absolute mess,it would have cost me a bomb to restore it to factory correct concours condition even when will do the entire chassis up rotisserie restoration.

If i’m not mistaken,he was asking USD 20 grand for it as it sat there in the barn and he knew the icon he owned and he would not budge form the price,while i had to have it,the asking price was way too much.Damn..wanted to rekindle my childhood memories of the brilliant Gordini.

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